


Like A Superhero

by extraterrestriallester (spaceyjules)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, M/M, Phanfiction, Romance, Self Prompt, meet on holiday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-16
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-21 02:58:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4812401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceyjules/pseuds/extraterrestriallester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan is a grumpy teenager that doesn’t want to go on holiday with his parents. Phil works at the campsite shop. What will happen when they meet??¿¿¿?  BONUS: there's also an epilogue!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like A Superhero

**Author's Note:**

> **Author’s note** : wrote this on holiday (with actual pen and paper), typed it up when i got back. i don’t think it’s my best aT ALL but i’ve gotta do something with my time, might as well publish it. also this was fucking ages ago i know and im sorry i'll try to be more frequent and stuff. 
> 
> Warnings for swearing may apply, but nothing they haven't said before.

“Mum! I don’t want to go on this fucking idiotic trip to the middle of nowhere!” Dan yelled and resisted the urge to throw his backpack down the stairs. 

“Language, Daniel. And you are going, whether you like it or not. You’re too young to stay at home without anyone checking up on you.”

“Alex’s mum lets  him stay home alone.” Dan huffed angrily. 

“Alex has an older brother who’s staying with him. Plus, he’s twenty years old. You’re barely past the age of consent.”

“What does the age of consent have to do with this?” Dan asked. “It’s not like I’m going to have sex with him.”

“Who’s having sex with Dan?” Dan’s older brother walked in and put his suitcase on the floor. Marcel was going with them, but Marcel was allowed to take his laptop. Because he had ‘school work’. Bulltshit, Dan thought. Marcel was going to spend the summer holidays playing League Of Legends in an internet cafe. 

“I’m not having sex with anyone, which is exactly the point I’m trying to make.” Dan said. 

His mother sighed. “Look, honey, I know you don’t want to go, but give it a chance, okay?” she ruffled Dan’s hair. “Who knows, you might actually like it there.”

Dan grunted tiredly. This wasn’t an argument he could win. “Fine.” he said. “But I want the good sleeping bag.”

His mother sighed relieved. “Sure, love. Go get your stuff.”

  
And that’s how Dan ended up in the backseat of his parent’s car, on his way to a weird French campsite. 

The car ride wasn’t all too horrible, except for the gross public bathrooms that reeked of not only urine, but also every other human bodily fluid one could imagine. 

It was also unbearably hot, and this was a serious issue. Dan’s shirt wasn’t just damp, it was drenched. The air felt humid and thick and even with all the windows open, it wasn’t quite possible to drain out the vague smell of sweat and deodorant. 

 

Eventually though, they reached the campsite. 

It was late, and all the work of setting up tents and the lack of proper food and drinks made the whole family moody and irritable. 

Dan’s father complained about the bad sanitary, and Marcel joined in. Dan decided to check if the camping shop was open, because apparently no-one had thought to bring toilet paper, which was just horribly inconvenient.

  
The camping shop was tiny and completely empty, but the products were placed in such a way that made it look like there was a large variety. 

There was a small freezer in the back, but it was broken and really old. Dan picked up the least damp roll of toilet paper and brought it to the counter. 

The cashier was a guy a bit older than Dan, wearing a bright coloured shirt and tapping away on his phone. He startled when he noticed Dan and quickly put his phone away. “Sorry, I know it’s not allowed. Don’t tell anyone, please?”

Dan smiled and put the toilet roll on the counter. “Your secret is safe with me, uh-” 

“Phil.” said the cashier. “I’m Phil.”

“Ah.” Dan said. “I’m Dan. We just arrived.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” Phil asked. 

Dan weved his around vaguely. “Just me and my family.” he said. 

“Oh, I see. You’d rather be at home, then?” Phil guessed.

“I suppose.” said Dan. “You work here?” 

“Live here, actually.” Phil handed Dan the change. “I’m here for my gap year. Figuring out what I want and stuff.”

“Sounds fun.” Dan took the toilet roll and clumsily tried to fit it in his pocket. “I uh, I gotta go.”

Phil laughed. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. See you around, mate.”

“Yeah. See you around.” Dan waved and almost tripped when he walked backwards, exiting the shop. Walking back to the tent, Dan realised he felt much better than before.

  
  


The following week, Dan caught himself thinking about Phil at random a lot. He also went to the shop with the silliest excuses, like “my brother wanted cereal” or “mum needs more shampoo”. He didn’t necessarily think it was a bad thing.

He just wasn’t sure if it was a good thing, either. 

  
  


Phil liked seeing Dan. Phil also liked how Dan was never quite reachable, like there was something big that was constantly on Dan’s mind. Like a curtain of smoke, the thing, whatever it was, made Dan mysterious and quite the guy. Phil was determined to find out what was behind the smoke.

Phil liked how Dan always insisted on taking something from the shop, instead of saying he just came around to talk. “See,” he told Dan one day, “If you want to talk to me, I do have a life outside this crappy camping shop. We could meet for coffee, or lunch. Or dinner. Whatever you want.” 

Dan immediately turned a faint shade of pink and he nearly knocked over Phil’s coffee. “Wh- no! I mean, yes, sure, yeah, I’d like that.” 

Phil smiled at Dan’s clumsiness. “Cool. I’m free at five thirty.” 

Dan scraped his throat. “So uh… I’ll see you then?” 

“I know where your tent is, so I can pick you up.”

Dan gasped. “Really? I mean, sounds like fun, that’s okay.”

Phil chuckled. It was kind of cute how Dan was so obviously excited. “I’ll see you in an hour, we can go anywhere you want but we’ll see about that when I get there.”

  
  


Dan was nervous. He fiddled with his jeans and knocked over water bottles, changed T-shirts three times that day, and he couldn’t concentrate on his book.

It’s not like he’d never been on dates before, he just wasn’t sure if this would turn out to be one of them.

Phil was excited. Excited and a tiny bit nervous. He rushed customers out of the shop, hoping that it would make time go faster or at least make the wait more bearable. 

It didn’t.

 

Finally, finally the clock reached five thirty, and after handling a particularly difficult customer, Phil closed the shop.

He decided to walk to Dan, thinking it would be better than to cycle. Dan’s tent was quite close to the shop after all, and a bicycle would only make him seem lazy.

“Dan?” Phil yelled when he didn’t spot Dan sitting outside the tent. “You here?”

There was some rummaging inside the tent closest to Phil, and then the sound of metal clattering paired with muffled swearing. 

A zipper opened, and there was Dan, wearing black skinny jeans and a plain white button-up. His hair was perfectly combed and there was a hint of nervousness in his voice. “Sorry, I was changing.”

Phil laughed. “Just for me? I feel honoured.” 

Dan muttered something about the weather being hot and his T-shirts smelling. 

“If it’s so hot,” said Phil, “Then why are you wearing black skinny jeans? You should be melting.”

Dan shrugged. “I’ll live.”

“Sure you will.”

“So… What are we going to do?” Dan fidgeted with his shirt.

Phil smiled. “We can go for a walk, take a bite, whatever you want.”

“Can you give me a tour of the campsite? That’d be fun. And handy, since I got lost yesterday.”

“Yes!” Phil laughed enthusiastically. “And then I’ll buy you ice cream.”

Phil took Dan’s hand and ran to the reception. Dan let himself get dragged across the terrain while Phil put up his tour guide act.  “And here we see... “ Phil put on a dramatic voice. “The worst camping shop of all time, featuring such hits as ‘Overpriced Beer’ and ‘Uncomfortably Damp Toilet Paper’!” 

They burst out into laughter and Dan had to lean on Phil’s shoulder as to not fall over. Phil was hiccuping. “You okay?” he asked Dan.

Dan scraped his throat. “I think so.”

“You want ice cream?” Phil waved with his wallet. 

“Sure.” Dan smile. “I can pay for myself, though. No need to spend all that money on me.”

“‘Tis on the house, don’t worry.” Phil winked and opened the door of the shop. He quickly took his place behind the counter. “Would you like to place an order, sir?” 

Dan played along. “What’s it cost?”

“A secret per scoop.”

Dan huffed. “I thought it was on the house.”

“Sorry, I changed the rules. You tell me a secret, and I’ll serve you ice cream. The better the secret, the more ice cream you get.”

Dan bit his lip. “I’m not sure what to tell.”

Phil shrugged. “You can start with something small. And you can pay afterwards.”

“Okay, deal.”

Phil smiled. “Sure thing.” he started scooping the ice. “Now this might take a while, ‘cause I’m absolutely terrible at it.” 

  
After Phil nearly knocked over the fridge in the process of scooping his own ice cream, they went back on their way.

“What now?” Dan asked when they’d finished the campsite tour.

“You can tell me your secrets while I show you around the garden?” Phil suggested. Somehow Phil felt a bit nervous about asking, but Dan agreed and they set course to the garden.

  
“This is beautiful.”  The garden was filled with flowers and herbs, the paths between the crop fields were overgrown with clover, and Dan was astonished. “God, I love it. It smells amazing.”

Phil sat down on the grass and motioned for Dan to follow him. “Tell me your secrets.”

“I don’t know, man.” Dan sat down with his arms around his knees. “I pretend to like my mum’s mushroom stew so she doesn’t feel bad? Is that good enough?”

Phil laughed. “Good one, but not enough. Ice cream is expensive.”

“What do you want me to say, then?”

“I dunno.” Phil shrugged. “Tell me about your fears.”

“My fears? I barely even know you.”

“That’s the whole point,” said Phil. “I’d like to get to know you better, so you oughta tell me the deep stuff.”

Dan sighed. “Fine. I don’t like moths and I’m terrified of the dark.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! What if a demon comes and grabs me? Or drags me down to hell?”   
Phil laughed. “You didn’t struck me as the superstitious type.” 

“The only thing I don’t believe in, yet the only thing I truly fear. Extraterrestrials? Fine. Burglars? Sure, why not. But supernatural beings? Now you got me panicking.”

“You believe in aliens?”

“Sure.” Dan paused to think about how to construct his next sentence. “The universe is so vast and complex, evermore expanding. I mean, wouldn’t it be terrifying if the  earth of all places would be the only one that could sustain life?”

“Wow.” Phil scratched the back of his head. “I never thought about it like that.” 

They were silent for a while and focused on the sun setting.

  
“I dye my hair.” Phil said suddenly.

“What?”

“That’s my secret.”

Dan laughed. “Kind of a shit secret, if you ask me. What’s your real colour?”

Phil made a vague noise, but said nothing. 

“Whatever.” said Dan. “Tell me this then: Why are you here? I mean, of all places you can go to in a gap year, you choose  this ?”

Phil laughed. “I don’t know. I guess I like the quietness of it all. And everything here is temporary. No-one knows who you are, not really. I like that. It’s like you’re anonymous, but you still have an influence on what happens in this little world, this tiny community.”

“You mean, like a superhero?”

“A bit like a superhero, yeah.” Phil smiled and looked up. “Now tell me,” and he pointed at the sky. “What does that cloud look like to you?”

 

  
  
That’s how they spent their next couple of days. Phil would pick Dan up at his tent, they would take a walk (a different route every day), and discover the other’s favourite places to be.

They would sit and talk for hours on end, telling each other about their day, talking about family, mutual interests, and so on.

There were silent moments as well. Moments where Phil focused on the noises and the air with his eyes closed while Dan focused on Phil, forgetting all about the noises and the air. Moments in which Dan looked at the sky and Phil looked at Dan. Phil learned that Dan was quite a cynical person, but passionate about the things he loved. He learned that Dan loved acting, but didn’t think he was good enough. He learned that Dan was not only afraid of moths and dark, but also trees. 

He also learned that Dan loved talking, but not about himself, not the deep stuff like Phil had mentioned. Afraid to commit, he guessed. Phil got that, he really did. So he never pushed it, never insisted that Dan talked about personal experiences, never asked risky questions about controversial topics. 

He learned that Dan was easy to laugh with, easy to look at, very easy to love.

  
  


“Dan?” Phil called out for Dan’s name. It was noon, and due to a pleasant surprise, Phil didn’t have to work at the shop that day. He thought he’d surprise Dan, take him out for lunch in town. Phil carefully approached the tent. “Dan, are you there?”

Some muffled grunting. A voice, groggy with sleep and edging on irritated. “What? Who’s there?”

Phil snickered quietly to himself. Of course Dan would be the kind of person to stay in bed until twelve o’ clock. “Get up!” Phil yelled. 

Dan coughed and groaned. “Phil? What the fuck?”

Phil grabbed a shirt that was hanging over a camping chair and zipped open the ‘door’ of Dan’s tent. “Put this on, we’re gonna get lunch downtown.”

Dan let out an exasperated sigh, but put on the shirt. “Aren’t you supposed to be working? Why are you buying me lunch?”

Phil sat down on the grass and checked the time on his phone. “They gave me a day off. And you’ll see why.”

By now Dan was used to Phil’s sometimes mysterious behaviour, and he just accepted it. He got dressed and brushed his teeth, then followed Phil to the parking lot.    
  


Phil didn’t have a car, so they were forced to cycle into town. This went relatively fine, except for the moment where Phil almost steered them into the bushes.    
  


Finding a place to eat was hard. See, when Phil had said they were going ‘downtown’, he didn’t mean the nearest shopping centre. The village down the road consisted out of a small bakery, an ever smaller pharmacy, a church and about fifty houses. 

“So…” Dan looked at Phil. “Where are we eating?”

Phil laughed nervously. “I didn’t really think this through… Uh, I guess I could buy you a  pain d'escargot ? Do you like those?”

Dan’s eyes widened. “I’m  not eating snail bread.”

Phil burst out laughing. “It’s not snail bread! That’s just the name, you sod.”

“I think I’d much rather have a crook madame, thank you.”

“It’s  croque  madame, and they don’t sell fancy toast in bakeries.”

“Christ, fine. I’ll eat your weird snail bread.” Dan pushed open the door of the bakery and stepped inside.

The shop was a bit dark, and when Dan looked up he saw one the ceiling lamps was broken, and the other one flickered every other minute. The available products (mostly bread and cake) were stored on shelves behind the counter.

 

The bread was ordered by Dan in fluent French, and Phil couldn’t help but stare. “How do you know all of that? I’ve lived here for almost a year and I barely order a glass of  wine without stuttering.” 

They sat down on a bench just outside the bakery, and Dan shrugged. “I took French for my A-levels.” Dan took a bite from his food and let out a noise of surprise. “This is really good! Sorry for not believing you.” 

“It’s alright.” said Phil. “I got a C in French.” 

“Jesus.”

They were silent for a while as they ate. 

 

“I wanted to ask you something.” Phil said after finishing his drink. “That’s why I invited you over for lunch.”

Somehow the air had changed. The atmosphere was different, tenser. Dan scratched the back of his head. “Sure, ask whatever you want.” he said. It came out awkward and forced, and Dan mentally kicked himself for acting so stupid. It probably wasn’t even anything  like that.

“I was wondering,” said Phil, “if you would like to go swimming with me. I know this place in the middle of the forest, it’s completely abandoned and I bet you’d love it.” 

“I, uh-” Dan stammered, didn’t know what to say. “I’ll have to ask my parents, uh-”

“You don’t have to, of course! I was just… hoping.” Phil wanted to punch himself.  Of course Dan doesn’t want that, you idiot. You’re reading way too much into things, as usual.

“No! I’d like to go, but-”

“I get it.” Phil stood up. “I’m being pushy, I’m sorry.”

Dan stood up too, and in an impulse, grabbed Phil’s hand. “It’s fine. I really hate opening up, but I should practice it. So, ask me out. Please.”

Phil bit the inside of his lip and smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, six o’ clock.”

  
  


Dan had never really been on a date before. Or well, he had, but he hadn’t ever been particularly excited or nervous. He was now. 

He wanted it to go well, he wanted Phil to like it and, more importantly, he wanted Phil to like  him . 

Phil had been on dates before. None of them had earned him a long term relationship, though there were follow-ups of follow-ups sometimes. Taking someone home had not happened very much. Phil prefered to know someone before jumping into bed with them. He liked to be good to people. In the end, he took forty-five minutes to pick his outfit.

 

Dan wiped his hands on his jeans one more time. They were a little damp with sweat. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this nervous. “Well then,” he told himself. “Let's do this.”

“Let's do what?” Phil's voice sounded from behind Dan, and he jumped around. “What? Nothing. I was just talking to myself.”

Phil laughed. “Alright then, Daniel. Have you got your swimming trunks?”

Dan patted his backpack. “In here. I also packed food and drinks so we won't starve.”

“Good idea.” Phil said. “Shall we?”

 

The sky was a perfect kind of blue. Only a few clouds were to be seen, and thus the day had been humid and hot. 

The woods seemed to be bursting with life. The ground was covered with grass and and all of the plants and tree leaves were greener than Dan had ever seen them. Birds were chittering, you could hear insects buzzing, and the noise of the frogs' mating call was almost deafening. 

 

They finally arrived at the lake. It was huge, surrounded by trees, and beautiful. Parts of it were covered in lily pads, and the water seemed black, it was that deep. 

Phil spread out their towels on the ground and took off his shirt. He quickly kicked off his shoes, took a sprint towards the lake and jumped in with a scream. 

 

It took a while for Dan to change, seeing as there were no bushes around and he wasn’t wearing trunks. He tried improvising something with a towel. 

“You’re such a prude!” Phil shouted.

“Am not!” Dan shouted back.

“Are!” Phil climbed back on land with some difficulty and tried to fix his hair. “Are  so .” he said again. 

Dan huffed. “No need to show you my junk.”

Phil laughed in the way Dan liked it best, tongue poking out and nose scrunching up. “Maybe I  want to.” 

“Excuse me?”

Phil snorted. “Sorry, that was really creepy.” He slowly walked back to the water. “Not sure if I was kidding, though!” he shouted and dove back into the water again.

 

It was the lazy kind of swimming where you get out when the water becomes cold and jump back in when the sun starts itching your skin. They did it for hours, laughing, talking, eating and taking in the scenery. Sometimes they laid quietly next to each other, and sometimes Dan was brave enough to slip his hand into Phil's. They were lying like that when Phil noticed the sun setting and suggested they headed back. 

“Hmm.” said Dan. “Maybe later.” he turned on his side and faced Phil. “It’s so nice here. I’m glad you showed me.” 

Phil smiled a little. “What were you so afraid of?”

Dan swallowed hard. “You.” he whispered.

Phil felt his stomach form a knot. The thought of Dan disliking him was a terrifying one. 

Dan shuffled a little closer, and now their knees were touching. “Because… you make my head spin, Phil. Because I was afraid I’d fall in love with you, but now I have, and I don’t want it to stop. Not now, not ever.” Dan spoke very quietly, like he was afraid that someone else would hear him. 

 

Phil tried to think of something to say, but he could only think of Dan.  

Dan, who wore black skinny jeans in summer. Dan who hated humid and rain because it make his hair curly, Dan with his self-deprecating jokes and stupid Kanye West jokes. 

Dan, who was in love with him. 

 

Phil giggled, because he was overwhelmed, and overwhelmed made him do silly things.

And then he kissed Dan.  And Dan kissed back.

It was messy and cheesy, and their hair was still wet, and their backs were sticky with sunscreen and sweat, but they kissed and it was good.

 

 

* * *

 

> Epilogue

Dan looked into the mirror and straightened his tie. He sighed.

So this is what people felt like on the most important day of their lives. It was a strange, tingly feeling in his throat and stomach.

He was also nervous.

But it was the good kind of nervous, the one that gets you excited and worked up in a happy way. 

 

Phil was pacing restlessly in his hotel room, desperately trying to remember his lines. His eyes got hold of the small black box in his hand. It was a bit damp, and Phil noticed he’d been sweating. He put the box down on the table next to him, and smiled. This was really happening. 

A knock on the door. Pj.

“Hi.” Phil opened the door and waved awkwardly.

“Hey.” Pj smiled. “You okay?”

Phil shrugged. “Just nervous. That's supposed to happen, right? It's a good thing.”

“I don't know if it's a good thing, but it's perfectly normal, trust me.” Pj patted Phil's shoulder and sat down on the bed. He pointed at the papers in Phil's hand. “Do you know them?” 

“I did, but not anymore! I'm having a blackout.” Phil slumped down on the bed next to Pj, put his arms over his head, and sighed. “I'm gonna ruin this completely.”

“Hey man! You're not getting cold feet, are you?” Pj grabbed the papers out of his friend's hands. “This, this is from your heart, remember? There is a piece of your soul in this work. It's your personal masterpiece. It's beautiful and it'll go great, just like we practiced. The following twenty-four hours are going to be the best ones of your life. Act like it!”

“I know- I feel great and happy and I'm so excited.” Phil smiled. “I'm so happy.”

“Just needed to realise that, didn't you?”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

Pj smiled. “You're welcome. Now, let's practice your vows one more time.”

  
  


FIN

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading, feedback is appreciated <3!! Stay up-to-date: extraterrestriallester|tumblr


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